The present invention relates to a device for quickly and temporarily securing a work piece and/or a work piece holder to another work surface for use in machining operations.
In the manufacturing industry, it is often necessary to temporarily locate a work piece or work fixture at a specific position on a work surface in order to machine a mechanical part from the work piece or to perform some other industrial process on the work piece. For instance, a work piece may be machined by removing material from the work piece using a mill, router, lathe, water jet cutter, electrical discharge machine, saw, grinder or other material removing equipment.
A fixture is a work holder that is typically used to hold, support and locate the work piece during such machining operations. The fixture is further used to reference the cutting tool of a corresponding machine, e.g., to temporarily secure the work piece in a desired position relative to a cutting tool during a machining operation or to otherwise position the work piece during an industrial process. In this regard, a fixture typically includes an edge finder, center finder, or gage blocks to repeatedly and consistently position a work piece relative to the cutting tool of a corresponding machine. As such, a fixture can be used in almost any operation that requires a precise relationship in the positioning of a tool relative to a work piece.
A permanent fixture typically has a custom configuration, which is built to fit a particular part or shape. This type of fixture is often well suited for high-volume production. Alternatively, a fixture may be provided for general-purpose use. For example, in certain instances, the shape of the work piece and the machining to be performed allow for the use of a general-purpose fixture that is adaptable to different machines and/or different parts. The general-purpose fixture may be well suited for machining parts in low volume runs or for machining parts that have few critical dimensions.
Regardless of the type of fixture, the work piece is typically temporarily attached to the fixture using one or more bolts, which allows the work piece to be removed and replaced by the next part to be machined.